Greenpeace Luxembourg has addressed an open letter to Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourg's Minister of Finance and Member of the Board of Governors of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The environmental NGO noted that Minister Pierre Gramegna and 26 other European Union (EU) Finance Ministers would meet (virutally) in Luxembourg on Friday for the annual general meeting of EIB governors. During this meeting, EIB President Werner Hoyer will report to the Board of Directors on the bank's activities in 2020.
According to Greenpeace, the EIB's aspiration to become the EU's climate bank has "failed due to its continued support for big polluters", as well as due to "the broken promises" of the EIB President, who had "committed to respect the legally binding objectives of the Paris agreement". The NGO added that the way in which the bank distributes money "contrasts sharply with its climate commitments". Instead of becoming a real climate leader among financial institutions, the EIB is focusing its efforts on greenwashing, argued Greenpeace. The open letter continued: "It appears far more concerned with the satisfaction of its carbon-emitting customers than with a truly green and fair post-COVID19 recovery - an essential direction for the future of humanity and the planet".
Ahead of their meeting, Greenpeace Luxembourg sent this open letter to Luxembourg's Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna and Luxembourg Director of the EIB. Arsène Jacoby, who is also a member of the bank's Board of Governors.
